State: Ohio
Link: https://www.nps.gov/cuva/index.htm
Days: 1
Season: Fall
Hotel: Hampton Inn and Suites Cleveland/Independence
Hikes: 2 = 5.2+ miles
Ice Cream: b.a. Sweetie Candy Company, Mitchell’s, Handel’s Homemade
Day 0
We previously blogged about Cuyahoga Valley National Park. This was our second trip to this beautiful park.
We found ourselves in Ohio again, this time to see our niece (11 years old) compete in a competition. After her competition, we all headed for b.a. Sweetie Candy Company. Aside from getting candy, we indulged in the soft serve sundae where you can pick between custard and dole whip, or get both! You get to decide how much ice cream vs toppings you want. It was good, just be careful, the machine might blow off a bunch of your toppings if you go to add more after loading up toppings!
Then we did a few other things, ate dinner, and had more ice cream! This time at Mitchell’s. They are definitely one of the best in the mid-west.
Day 1
Prior to this, our niece never went hiking before. Our goal was to get her interested in hiking and see how much she could handle. We started our day off at Blue Hen Falls Trail, an easy 3 mile out and back trail. There was a bit of incline in the beginning that may be more challenging for some folks. Since it was fall, there were a lot of leaves on the ground. A couple areas were a little bit difficult to tell where the trail was because there were so many leaves! If you look for the crushed ones, you’ll stay on the path.
At one point you’ll go down about 156 wooden/dirt filled steps. Continuing on you’ll walk along the road then cross the road at the crosswalk. There will be more decent as you get closer to the falls.. Toward the end there’s a narrow bridge – that’s how you know you’re getting close! Enjoy your time at the falls! Once you’re done head back the way you came.
Next, we headed to Brandywine Falls. This time we just took the boardwalk to the falls. On the way there we saw some cool rock formations. After we were done with that, we took the boardwalk to the upper overlook. We elected not to do the loop this time because this was the highlight of the “trail” in our opinion.
The last trail for this trip was Ledges Trail, a moderate 2.2 mile hike. This trail had a lot of gravel and dirt to start. In the wood-line there were a lot of trees down – it’s nice to see nature take it’s course. Along the way we did a little bit of rock scrambling to check out some areas off the main path. We eventually made it to the overlook to see scenic views of the park.
We then headed home and stopped for ice cream at Handel’s, which is always yummy! It’s hard not to get the ice cream flight.
